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Joe Strummer
|URL = }}'Joe Strummer '(1952-2002), was the lead singer of British punk band The Clash. Early life Strummer was born in Ankara, Turkey. His father had the ability to be mentally certifiable and his mother kept a tradition for her self, Celtic Bardic, something the father was unaware of. Eight year old Strummer was put in a Public boarding school in Britain, along with his ten year old brother. He managed to get three A levels in History, Art and English, even though he claimed (later in life), to be an inept student. This is where Strummer discovered music and started playing. In 1970, his brother committed suicide. Strummer decides to become a cartoonist and registers at London Central School of Art & Design. Then became addicted to drugs, LSD, meets a fiddler named Tymon Dogg, and follows him in his Underground pitches as a busker. Career Following a sweetheart partner who was studying at the Cardiff Art School, he heads for Wales, and settles in Newport with former friends. He shares a flat with Mikey Foote, spending his time attending lectures at Newport College of Art, where he is seen as a great artist. He moves in with bassist "Jiving" Alan Jones who had started a band with Robert Angelo, Bob ' Blow ' Jackson, and Jeff Cooper. They needed a drum kit and Woody had one. He lends the drum kit in exchange for the position as front man. The Vultures played some calamitous gigs, and in the summer of 1971, tired of working as a grave digger for the local council, he gets homesick and moves back to London to his busking trade. After discovering the speakers fixed on the tube stations' ceilings were connected directly to the Transport Police shop where he was often dragged during his pitches, he quit busking and does several other jobs, including garbage carrying at the National Opera in England, until he is fired after his boss discovers him practicing a guitar in the orchestra pit. The c. £120 he got to clear off pays his AC30 amplifier. The clash and performance In early 1976, the 101'ers played a couple of gigs with The Sex Pistols as an initial act. The shows with Sex Pistols would propel Strummer into the emerging punk rock scene, and gain the attention of musicians Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, who were part of the audience. The three men would coincidently cross paths the following week while in the unemployment line at the Lisson Grove Dole Office. Jones, Simonon and Strummer were formally introduced a short time later by someone, and eventual manager, Bernie Rhodes. It was during this establishment that The Clash was formed—their name was derived from how often the term "clash" was used in an edition of the London Standard newspaper. Terry Chimes (drummer), completed the 4-man original Clash line-up shortly thereafter. The songwriting collaboration between Strummer and Jones is often compared to the chemistry between legendary duos such as Lennon and McCartney. The pair wrote songs about political and social injustice, cultural apathy, repression, and militarism (sic). Songs like "White Riot," "London's Burning" and "I'm So Bored With the U.S.A." have become punk rock anthems. As front man, writer and motivational force behind The Clash, Strummer and his band became one of the most influential, expansive and enduring groups to come out of the 1976 British punk rock explosion. Category:The Clash Category:Best of punk rock